The tea party was ready to rock at Rand Paul’s victory party in Bowling Green, Kentucky, on Tuesday, but there was none of the hostility that made so much news of late. I can confidently say that no heads were stomped in my presence. No, the night was all about joy in a decisive victory and the desire to take the country back from the neo-socialist claws of the Obama-Reid-Pelosi hydra.
The celebrants were a curious amalgam of old money and just plain old, traditional Republicans and esoteric Libertarians, middle-class youths and even a few hipsters. They were united by disgust at Washington, D.C., and a desire for “change,” which should sound awfully familiar to Democrats who were celebrating a similar victory just two years ago.
Many in the crowd were first-time volunteers like Charles and Mary Jordan, 70 and 68, from Barberville. “This didn’t seem the way the country was meant to be,” Charles said. He hopes Rand Paul will repeal health-care reform, and gut federal spending, though not for Social Security or Medicaid, which they use. He did say, however, he would forgo his cost-of-living increase if he could.